Achtung Baby Or Turn That Light Off, Polar Bears Are Dying!

04/11/2011 19:23
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Updated
22 May 2015

Suze Nowak
Parentdish UK

Rex Features

My father laughs in the face of wind turbines and is a staunch advocate of nuclear power. I am not, but in the spirit of family put this down to generational disparities and an old dog refusing to learn new, safer tricks.

In Germany, there is significant, energetic and overwhelming opposition to "Atomkraft" and most Germans I know do their bit to help the planet. Whilst dad wouldn't dream of recycling or driving a hybrid car, we do concur, albeit for different reasons, when it comes to switching lights off.

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Do we need all these lights on? It's like Blackpool illuminations in here! A complaint heard daily for the first decade of my life. Drove me insane. And guess what I said to my daughter last night.

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Ten minutes of googling Blackpool Illuminations (husband and daughter both clueless) had a somewhat dampening effect on my attempt at environmental enlightenment and the desired response was not forthcoming as they both gushed over the pictures.

After my straight faced promise of a visit (fingers crossed, obviously), Finje's father, unimpressed by my parental deficiencies, took matters into his own hands.

My husband is a knowledgeable and intelligent man. He is also a keen environmentalist. He approached the task of educating Finje about the need to save energy and the planet, like he does most things, scientifically, pragmatically and involving plenty of detail.

Electric and water meters were demonstrated and Finje nodded as words like kilowatts and superconductors were bashed around. As he noticed a glaze begin to form over his daughter's eyes, her dad cleverly pulled the rabbit out of the bag. Having arrived at the issue of global warming, he snapped Finje back to attention by suggesting that she would surely not want all those "cute" polar bears to die. An effective strategy.

We were not to be made aware of just how effective until this evening whilst enjoying a meal at our local bar.

As the owner (and our friend) approached us, laden with all things delicious, she was set upon by Finje.